Going downhill... - BDR Salesforce Employee Review

2.0
4 Jun 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great benefits, good IN PERSON training, good core values, the company has a good reputation.

Cons

Losing sight of the core values the company was founded on. Growing to fast and not able to keep up with overall growth. Seeing lots and lots of angry current customers... 8/10 if you don't have 5-6+ years of inside/outside sales experience, you will only be considered for an SDR or BDR role. This could be fine, but the role should incorporate more closing of business if you are basically expecting people to take a demotion for the role and not articulating the position clearly (this could just be an issue with my office though). If you are on the BDR team you can be the hardest working person and still not hit your number because of how your quota is attained. Your manager will "help you" come up with "strategic plans" to hit your number (basically just tell you to make more calls/set meetings) but it doesn't matter because if you AEs refuse the meetings, don't feel like moving them to a stage 2 (everyone perceives what this means differently), don't have time to take them until the next month, etc. then you are screwed. BDR management doesn't align with AE management at all. Therefore, they don't care about anything except their AEs closing deals (I don't blame them!), they are annoyed when BDR management comes complaining that their AEs aren't working with their BDR... This is just not a conducive business model and doesn't help growth initiatives. Not everyone is measured the same. You could be aligned 2-4 AEs or 10-15 AEs as a BDR. Either way, these people are expected to generate the same amount of "stage 2" opportunity. If you have 2 AEs that are busy, don't work in your office or don't have the "need" for a BDR to generate pipeline - then you have NO chance of hitting your quota. SDRs, BDRs and AE's are all expected to generate their own pipeline - which makes sense but it is causing people to compete with each other which takes away from making the customer #1 priority. This is especially bad since the Mulesoft migration... (from BDR POV) Although Salesforce always talks about endless internal growth opportunities, this is def not something that I have seen to be encouraged. You are pretty much forced to take the typical promotion track. BDR Management is way too pushy with BDRs setting new meetings and business, while this should be a significant responsibility, lots of customers get mislead, forgotten, or treated with poor customer service which eventually will backfire (I have already seen it backfire a few times!) As a BDR you could generate $5mil in the pipeline one month, but only have 2 stage two opptys on the board (you need around 6-8)...which means you will miss your quota. Others could have 6-8 opptys on the board which only adds up to $300k in pipe for the month, but they will hit quota.. Doesn't make sense.

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Salesforce Response
7y
Thanks for taking the time to leave your review. We know that we are moving fast and some positions can certainly be more demanding than others, We've been working hard to increase transparency around promotions and career progression and are very intentional about fostering a culture of equality. We know there is more work to be done, but we are encouraged by the progress we've made together. If you could please provide more details anonymously by contacting our third party provider Ethicspoint at http://www.salesforce.ethicspoint.com/ you would help us to directly address these concerns and become a better workplace for all.

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5.0
17 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great culture and team. Supportive

Cons

Don’t really have bad things to say.

4.0
9 Jul 2014
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I've spent over 8 years with Salesforce in various management and individual contributor roles, all customer or partner facing. Some of the pros: - vibrant, fast paced culture - smart, fun, aggressive colleagues - management is focused on latest tech trends and staying or becoming a leader for many of them - by and large, customers and partners are very positive about the technology - good benefits and perqs - hip urban culture at HQ - a chart-your-own-course mentality that rewards those who aggressively seek out the job they want and pursue it, or sometimes even create it

Cons

After my long tenure and many Dreamforce conferences, I'm nearly fried. To say the culture is fast paced and the focus is always changing is an understatement. The reason Salesforce always seems on top, and chasing the latest trend, and in the press, is because employees are expected to run harder, carry more, cheer loudly, and pivot constantly. It's the world's biggest startup in behavior. But at the same time, with the recent influx of top career sales leaders from Oracle and what appears to be a board-level mandate for doubling revenue, employees are being asked to do even more with even less, fill higher quotas with smaller territories, less help, and the big company bureaucracy is rearing it's ugly head. Worse still is the politics. When you hire a bunch of smart, aggressive people, and put them in an environment of outsized expectations, throw in a bunch of re-orgs and changing management, and sprinkle with uncertainty and constantly changing priorities, you inevitably get people back stabbing each other and throwing others under the bus to appear smarter and more worthy of promotion. The few at the top will get very, very rich. The rest will lose the sense of personal ownership and start to wonder why they've given up health and family

782
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Salesforce Response
2y
It's not often that you get the opportunity to respond to a review 10 years in but your comprehensive and thoughtful review has managed to hold on as one of our most popular even a decade in :) It’s exciting to see that the things we love most about the Salesforce of today — super smart colleagues, being at the forefront of tech trends and establishing ourselves as leaders in the space, great benefits and perks to name a few — haven’t changed in the past 10 years. We acknowledge the challenges you faced, such as the pace, shifting priorities, and internal politics. Your advice on maintaining our foundational vision while avoiding big-company bureaucracy is helpful as we continue to grow as the #1 AI CRM. Salesforce is committed to balancing growth with employee well-being and staying true to our core values. We appreciate your insights and dedication over the years. Thanks again for your feedback!
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